Israel Improves Patriot Missiles

Israeli army engineers and scientists have reportedly made improvements in the U.S.-made Patriot missile system, boosting its capability of thwarting attacks from advanced Scud missiles.

The Israelis have amended the software, radar and central computer of the Patriot, originally developed as an anti-aircraft missile, according to a report in the Air Force Journal.

Reports following the Persian Gulf War indicated that the much-vaunted Patriot missile had indeed had a much greater failure rate than was previously attributed to it.

The missile, which is made in Lexington, Mass., by the Raytheon Corp., was not always successful when fired against Iraqi Scud missiles during the 1991 Gulf War. Harmful debris from both the incoming Scud and the outgoing Patriots sometimes fell in the area the missile was meant to protect.